Can others tell we have
put on Christ?

Putting on Christ

“The world will ask you who you are, and if you do not know, the world will tell you.”
I can’t remember who said that, but, thankfully, lack of memory in this case doesn’t translate into loss of identity.
I have several Austin re-entry stories, but here is the most recent. I was driving back to the office from lunch one day, and I saw a fellow walking on the sidewalk who had tattooed himself solid green. He was wearing a T-shirt and shorts, and both of his arms, all the way around, were green.
The fronts of his legs were green. The front of his face, the top of his head and his neck were green.
It dawned on me that everything he would see in a mirror was green. It occurred to me that he was tattooing his whole body green.
I remembered Paul’s injunction to “Put on Christ.” Somehow, this man had heard a voice say, “Put on green!” And he did. He was committed.
I admit I questioned his decision. Wouldn’t it hurt, a lot? Wouldn’t that much ink, a foreign substance, poison your body? Isn’t that expensive?
Please let me live with my questions.
I also asked myself these questions: Is it apparent to others I have put on Christ? Did it hurt? Was it expensive? Was I as committed to putting on Christ as he was to putting on green?
When we are baptized, we are marked, branded, with the sign of the cross. Baptism is the answer to the question “Who am I?”
The world will ask you who you are. It is ours to answer, “I am Christ’s.” It is ours to help others meet, know and serve him.
It is no less a total commitment for me to put on Christ as it was for my brother to put on green. Wouldn’t it be great to look in the mirror and be reminded, oh yes, I have put on Christ?
Perhaps if our collective witness were more attractive and compelling, more people would put on Christ, and fewer would need to put on green.